Who's Your Uncle?
by stray3011
Summary: When Tim goes through his father's things he finds out something that may change his life, if it doesn't kill him first
1. Chapter 1

AN: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters, I just write about them. Stray

Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was getting worried, any worry for Tony general manifested itself as childish pranks and general annoyance for his fellow team members. His normal target was the cause of his worry on this day, one Agent Timothy McGee was not at his desk where he should be and that was the cause of the problem.

"Ellie, have you heard from Tim this morning?", Tony whined to the only other agent in the bullpen.

"Not since you asked five minutes ago." the young woman answer clearly not trying to hide her annoyance.

Tony hung up his phone after calling his Probie for the tenth time since he was officially late for work fifteen minutes ago.

"Still no answer."  
"No answer for who, DiNozzo?" Leroy Jethro Gibbs asked breezing into the bullpen area for out of nowhere holding his ever present coffee cup.

"Tim, Boss. He's not here and he's not answering his phone."

Just then the outside elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of Trent Kort, the one CIA Agent guaranteed to raise the blood pressure of everyone in the room.

He swaggered into the bullpen, only showing a brief moment of hesitation when he noticed that the desk he was moving to was empty and quickly turned to the desk he happened to be in front of, "DiNa... oops I'm sorry DiNozzo." he said with a smirk.

Gibbs didn't waste a second crossing the bullpen to come right behind the man and when he turned they were nose to nose.

"What do you need, Kort?" Gibbs seethed, growling at the man.

"I came to speak with Agent McGee, would you be kind enough to tell him that I'm here?"

"Probie?" Tony said disbelief and angry mixing with his words, "Why would you want to speak with him?"

Even though Gibbs had not answered the man, they still stood face to face neither willing to give the other the satisfaction of backing down, so Kort's answer was said directly in Gibbs' face.

"We were supposed to meet for coffee this morning and he didn't show, I assumed he was pulling another all-nighter here, since what I had to tell him was important, I decided to face the wrath of the dreaded MCRT to have a word with him."  
Sarcasm was dripping from the Englishman when spoke of the MCRT.

Upon hearing that Tim had missed an appointment before work as well as being late for work, Gibbs felt an uneasy tug in his gut. Something was definitely wrong.

"DiNozzo try calling McGee. Bishop trace his cell." Gibbs' glare never left the other Agent as he directed his team.

"Agent Kort." the team and visitor were all startled by the sudden appearance of Leon Vance on the stairs leading down from his office. "Care to explain why you were meeting with one of MY agents?"

"Personal", was the tired response from the man not willing to disclose any information until the mystery of the missing man was solved.

"No answer, Boss." Tony reported, worry once again filling his voice.

"Gibbs" Ellie said on the tailend of DiNozzo's report, "I've got his cell, but the signal is weak like it's been damaged or someone tried to disable it."  
Gibbs turned to look at the young woman, when she finish and she turned to look at him questioningly.

"Where?", Vance supplied the question Gibbs was patiently waiting for the answer to so he could find the missing man.

"Oh, yeah, at his apartment." she said flustered.

That said the three remaining members of the MCRT started gathering their gear to go find Tim and hopefully give him hell for causing such an uproar.

Vance stopped all movement, "Kort, you are riding with Gibbs and myself. Tony, you and Ellie get Abby on the trace and have her notify us of any change in the cell location. We'll meet you at the apartment."

Gibbs turned his death glare on the director, but didn't say a word as the man took his spare gun out of his desk and nodded the two stubborn agents to the elevator.

Once inside Vance took a page from Gibbs' playbook and hit the emergency stop button.

"Now, would you care to explain why you and Agent McGee were meeting for coffee this morning?" Vance said giving the a hard look.

Kort raised his hand in surrender, "Like I said earlier, it's personal."  
"If you got my agent tangled up in something, Kort, I promise you..."  
"I didn't do anything to your agent, in fact he came to me."  
This statement stunned the other two men in the elevator long enough for Kort to hit the button to get the elevator moving again.

The ride to Silver Springs was as quiet as it was terrifying. Seldom had Gibbs driven so fast or reckless with anyone but himself in the vehicle, but the longer it was since he realized his agent was missing the worst the sensation in his gut got, by the last couple of miles he was hiding a carefully guarded panic that had risen up inside of him.

The three men exited the car after it came to a sudden stop in front of the apartment complex, their collective field knowledge screaming that something was wrong loud enough to also be verbalized. All three checked their sidearms and headed to the missing man's apartment.

The door was slightly ajar, signaling the three men that their fear hadn't been in vain.

Once they walked inside the odor of blood almost knocked them off their feet and they quickly cleared the apartment, finally coming to the only closed door, McGee's bedroom.

With Kort on one side and Vance on the other Gibbs opened the door and was grateful that he only had coffee so far this morning, because the sight that greeted them would have had him losing any food he had eaten.

A battered and bloody Tim McGee laid on the floor of the room, his beloved german shepard lying inches from him dead.

Gibbs rushed over to the fallen man and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a weak but steady pulse in the man's neck.

"Call an ambulance." he yelled back at the two other men still standing by the door.

AN: Okay this is my newest story. I will try to update weekly while I finish Hear No Evil. Hope you enjoy and has always please review with thoughts and comments. :) stray


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of Gibbs' voice seemed to awaken the injured man and his eyes struggled to open.

"B..ss" came the almost inaudible whisper.

"I'm right here, Tim." Gibbs said relief floating on every word.

Kort walked up behind the relieved man, entering into Tim's line of vision, "Hey kid."

"Tr...ent sorry... wasn't has carefully... as I thought."

"Your safe now and we're going to keep you that way." , the Englishman consoled the young man.

"Care...ful short jump me to you." the short sentence seemed to take all the strength he had left.

Vance was getting angry with the CIA Agent who seemed to even now be keeping secrets from them that had led to the near murder of a very talented agent, under his watch.

"Kort what the hell is going on?"Vance growled.

Hearing Vance's voice seemed to strengthen McGee, "Dir...tor. Not his fault."  
Gibbs glared at the two men in the room, "I'll sort everything out Tim you just remember you don't have permission to not be alright."

Kort leaned in closer to the injured man, "Are the journals safe?"  
Tim tried to smile but it came out as a grimace, "Yes" then he looked his Boss in the eyes, "Rule four."

Just then the EMT's arrived and while they were caring for the young man, Kort let the next bombshell drop, "I'm going to ghost him."  
"Give me one good reason why?" Vance's glare and growl would have given Gibbs a run for his money.

Kort held up the pointer finger on his right hand, "Whoever did this to him didn't find what they were looking for." His middle finger joined the pointer, "Tim is the only one who knows where he hid the journals." His ring finger joined the other two, "If we say he died, the vermin that did this will simply crawl back into their holes."  
Vance finished Kort's train of thought, "So we report that he is missing, assumed kidnapped during the attack and the criminals behind the attack continue to look for him and give us the time to find them." Vance rubbed his chin with his hand, "I don't like it and I want a full briefing on everything you know."  
Kort nodded his agreement to Vance's stipulation.

Vance got on his phone while Gibbs simply looked at the two men in disbelief, "NO! Tim is my agent we put him in a safe house and we protect our own."  
"DiNozzo" Vance spoke into the phone "Return to the yard and get the van. I'm declaring McGee's apartment a crime scene."  
"I will fill you in once you get here." Vance closed his phone.

The overwhelmed Director turned to Gibbs, "Do you trust McGee?"

"Hell yeah." was the immediate response.

"Well for whatever reason he had, McGee trusted Kort with this problem. So by extension and very questionably we are going to have to trust McGee's judgment and work with him on this."

The Director turned a hard glare on the CIA Agent, "But I won't be doing this blindly."

Gibbs add his own stipulation to the agreement, "I want Ducky overseeing McGee's medical care, I want to make sure he is unghosted when all this is over."  
Kort once again agreed, "Fair enough."

Vance once again pulled out his cell, "Dr. Mallard, don't say anything just listen. I want you to tell Mr. Palmer that you've had a personal emergency and will be taking an immediate personal leave. Come to McGee's apartment I will fill you in once you get here. Say yes if you understand."  
"Okay, it takes twenty minutes to get here from the yard. I'll expect you to walk through the door here in twenty-one."  
The three men then turned to the EMT's working on the young agent who had not regained consciousness during the conversation.

Suddenly Gibbs reached for his phone, "Need you at McGee's apartment ASAP."  
When he closed the phone the other two men looked at him for an explanation, " A kidnapped federal agent is FBI jurisdiction, Fornell can get himself assigned to the case and run that end of the investigation."

Kort clearly was unhappy with the addition of another person in on the secret but he understood the reason, "All right, but we keep the truth about McGee's condition between us. I will tell you everything I know but I will not allow anyone else to be in on the ghosting."

He turned a cold hard look at the former Marine, "Especially not your team."

Ducky walked into the apartment at that moment and caused the distraction needed to avoid a major confrontation between the two men, "Dear heaven, what is going on?" the Scot exclaimed upon seeing the young man receiving medical attention on the floor of the bedroom.

"McGee was attacked, we don't have much time but the short version: for his safety and to give us the best opportunity to catch the people who did this we are going to ghost him temporarily. You are going to be responsible for overseeing his medical care."Vance quickly explained to the older man.

The EMT's had finally stabilized the young man enough to transport him and were getting ready to leave, when Kort stopped them and gave them his card and the address to a small medical facility near CIA headquarters, "Just tell them he is a confidential informant that needs medical attention on my authority."

Vance had Ducky pulled over to a corner and was giving him last minute instructions and a burn phone for if he needed to make contact.

The medical personal were leaving with McGee just as Fornell entered the apartment, the three men quickly got him up to speed on the situation and what would be expected of him. Then they waited for the arrival of DiNozzo and Bishop to tell them of the apparent attack and kidnapping of their friend, brother and fellow agent.

Much to everyone's surprise it was Kort that grabbed a sheet out of McGee's linen closet and covered the fallen canine, "You died defending your home and master. You are a hero." He softly whispered.

AN: Had to show that Kort was a little bit human right there at the end and also acknowledge Jethro's sacrifice. Please review with your thoughts and comments. :) stray 


	3. Chapter 3

Tony's mild worry at the office had grown exponentially with the time it took to return to the Yard and collect the van. By the time he arrived at McGee's apartment, he was almost frantic in his desire to get to his partner and find out what was happening. Once the smell of blood thickened the air around the open door of the apartment he was desperate to reach, it took all of Ellie's abilities as an agent to remind him the Director had declared the apartment a crime scene and they had to glove up before entering.

"Tony," Ellie said looking at him handing over the gloves he would need to process the scene.

Tony looked at her confusion on his face until he realized that he still had a job to do., "Just making sure you remembered." Tony said trying to cover his brief lapse in judgment.

"It's just another crime scene." Tony whispered. Ellie was pretty sure Tony was trying to convince himself and not her with those soft words.

Any hopes of maintaining order inside they apartment vanished the moment Tony entered. He saw the body on the floor covered by the sheet and all of his considerable investigative skills vanished in wake of his concern for his partner and friend.

"TIM" he screamed as he ran into the bedroom through the open doorway. He was half way to the body when he saw Kort out of the corner of his eye and quickly changed direction, barreling into them man, pushing him up against the wall and pulling his fist back getting ready to remove the man's head from his body.

"DiNozzo, stand down." Gibbs and Vance growled at the same time.

"He killed Tim." Tony still had a firm grip on the CIA Agent and was not planning on letting him go anytime soon.

Gibbs walked up behind the younger man and softly tapped the back of his head, "Do you think he'd still be breathing if I thought that even for the briefest second?"  
Tony dragged his eyes away from the man he considered his mortal enemy, to the face of his Boss. Gibbs eyes told the truth of his words Tony finally freed the other man.

Gibbs gently took the young by the arm and guided him to the covered body on the floor, when Tony realized the destination he stiffened up and tried to fight the older man.

"Tony" Gibbs said firmly once again looking the man directly in the eyes, "Does that body look big enough to be McGee?"  
Tony investigative instincts took over and he relaxed as the answer to the question became apparent. He stopped fighting and walked over to the body and pulled down the sheet to discover the identity of their victim, "Oh poor, Jethro?" he whispered.

"Where's Tim?" he asked looking around the apartment for the younger man.

"We don't know?" the Director said giving Kort a hard look.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" he asked looking to the four men who were in the apartment when he arrived.

"When we got here we found Jethro, a lot of blood and the apartment ransacked but their was no sign of your partner." the Brit answered for the group.

"So either he got away or he was taken by force." Tony theorized outloud.

"If he got away, he would have contacted someone in this room." Kort continued the difficult job of convincing DiNozzo what they needed him to believe.

Finally Tony acknowledged the hard truth he didn't want to see, Tim was missing and in danger. "So what's the game plan, Boss?"

"We find him."

At that moment Palmer arrived and paled at the sight of the body of the canine in front of him, "Ducky's on his way up?" Ellie asked to try and distract the man.

"No, Ducky had to leave a little while ago." he said, his eyes never leaving the body.

"Leave, where to?" Tony asked wanting their A Team investigating the disappearance of his team member.

"It was a personal emergency that came through my office, DiNozzo." Vance answered for the shell-shocked young man.

Tony turned angrily at his boss' boss , "When will he be back?"  
"Not sure, when it is handled." Vance raised his hand up to stop any further question, "I can't tell you more than that."

The hard look the Director sent his subordinate ended that line of questioning.

While that conversation was happening Kort discreetly walked into the living room of the apartment and check his cell phone which had been almost continually going off for several minutes.

He almost dropped the phone when he heard the voice on the other end, "Trent, if you are getting this message then I was not as careful as I thought I was and I am probably dead. Do not try to find me. The problem is a lot bigger than we first thought and cannot be discussed openly. I need you to go to Gibbs. Tell him Rule 44 and Rule 51. As for as the journals are concerned Rule 4 best option. Please follow Rule 40 as it is a very short jump from me to you and now you are also in danger. I trust you to handle this. You must make my team trust you as well."  
Kort returned to the bedroom noticing the tension in the room and only half regretting that he was going to add to it, "Gentlemen and lady, I think you need to listen to this." 

AN: Rule 4: the best way to keep a secret is to tell no one, second best option tell one other person if you must there is no third best. Rule 44: Protect the women and children. Rule 51:Sometimes you are wrong. Rule 40: If you think the are after you, you are right. Please review with thoughts and comments. Stray:)


	4. Chapter 4

After Kort replayed the message for the five people in the bedroom, you could have heard a pin drop from several miles away. Five face stared into nothing trying to contemplate what their friend and colleague was trying to tell them. Tony was the first to break the silence.

"When did you and Tim become so cozy that he calls you Trent?"  
Kort froze has the question made him think, "He never had before, its always been Agent Kort. I've often laughed to myself at his insistence to stand on protocol."

Before anyone could comment further the FBI team that Fornell had called in to process the scene arrived and he began to direct them to collect the body of the canine. He looked at Vance for permission before he also told them to go through McGee's computer and laptop.

Tony looked at Gibbs expecting him to intervene and claim jurisdiction for NCIS, when the older man just stood by silently he exploded, "OUR AGENT. OUR LEAD!"

He glared at his boss and director as he yelled the words.

"Tony, a missing federal agent is FBI jurisdiction." Vance said trying to calm the younger man.

"Since when as that ever mattered to you Gibbs. If it was me or Ziva you'd be all over this and demanding to have the lead." He was steadily moving into the older man space as he spoke, and soon he was right in his boss' face as he finished, "Or is it just because Tim is the computer geek, so he's not worth your interest."

Gibbs spoke softly but with all the venom he was holding back physically coming through his voice, "Tim belongs to me and is as much a part of this team as you or anyone else ever was. The FBI is taking and analyzing the evidence from here while we interview Kort and do everything we can to get him back." He took a step forward so the two men where nose to nose. "Don't ever question my loyalty to one of my own ever again." The last words were said so quietly that if you weren't listening carefully you would have missed them but they scorched Tony's ears and made him hang his head in embarrassment at his behavior.

Vance and Fornell had moved behind the two men to intervene if it became physical and both took a deep breath and backed off as the situation seemed to diffuse.

It was at that moment Sacks turned on McGee's computer to start going through the information, when a series of sparks came from the CPU tower and the whole system went dead. A few seconds following the computer dying sparks could be seen coming from Tim's bedside table as the same thing occurred with his cell phone. The pattern was repeated again with every piece of electronic equipment in the apartment that had access to the internet.

Sacks' face was grim when he reported to Fornell, Vance and Gibbs, "Everything is gone. He had some kind of security program and if you didn't use the correct process to turn on his electronics it fried out everything. It's all gone."

Vance grimaced at the report but their was also a glint of pride in the man's eyes as he realized the skill it would take to implement such a complex program that destroyed anything someone was trying to get while not damaging the apartment or harming anyone inside. In one fell swoop he turned every piece of electronic equipment he possessed into junk.

"Can anything be salvaged?" It was Fornell that asked the question.

"I'll bring everything back with me, but I doubt it. He did a good job of destroying everything."  
While the FBI team, under the watchful eyes of Ron Sacks, collected and bagged the ruin electronics, Tony smiled smugly to himself at the ingenuity of his partner, "Way to go, Probie." he said softly to himself.

"Okay time to head back to the Yard." Gibbs looked hard at Kort when he spoke, "Kort you will ride back with me and Vance. Tony on our bumper the whole way, Tobias you will be in the lead."  
Everyone looked at him curiously at the extreme security being taken for the ride back.

"You heard Tim's message to Kort, Rule 40. Kort stays close to us until this is handle. We have to assume that he is the next target."  
"Gibbs, I'm a trained..." Kort began not happy with the declaration.

"So was Tim." Gibbs stopped the man glaring at him. It was obvious to everyone in the room that while Gibbs was willing to protect the CIA Agent he still blame him for what happen to Tim.

"Let's go."

The ride back to the Yard was uneventful, much to everyone relief and soon the group was in a conference room waiting to be debriefed on by the man that they now had in protective custody for all extents and purposes.

"Start at the beginning Kort and Don't Leave Any Out." Gibbs growled once they had all sat down.

"This past April, I was in Norfolk when I noticed the very distinctive car the your young computer expert drivers at a coffee shop that I frequent when I'm in town. Having finished my business their, I decided to see what he was doing so far from DC."

"Another words, you were checking up to make sure he hadn't stumbled on to whatever it was you were up to in Norfolk." Vance interrupted.

Kort shrugged noncommittally at the comment.

"When I went inside he was reading through some old journals while enjoying a cup of coffee so I joined him. We talked for a while and I discovered he was going through his father's belongings deciding what he wanted to keep for himself and his sister and what to give to charity, when he discovered several journals in an old seachest in the attic. The journals belonged to his grandfather Admiral Robert McGee. He was confused by some of the entries in fact he said 'Something is hinky' I believe were his exact words."

"His grandfather was stationed in England during the time frame of the entries that puzzled him and it didn't take long for us to realize that I was born in the general location of where he was stationed so he asked me if I had any contacts who could pull up old records for him."

"I saw no harm in helping, so I made a few phone calls."

"What were in the journals?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't know he never let me read them."  
"What kind of records did he want?"

"Just some information from the society pages. Balls and other Events and a list of who attended. Nothing top secret or dangerous anyone in the area with computer skills or access to the library with enough patience could have retrieved the information he wanted."

"It ended there and though we met a few more times all we ever discussed were things about the area where I grew up. Then about a month ago I got a phone call from him saying he thought he had finally stumbled onto the reason behind the discrepancies between the official records and his grandfather's journals. He asked me to get a list of all the children born between June 1961 and October 1961 in three Providences in England."

"I sent him the list two days later. Two days ago he called again he sounded worried, he asked me to meet him this morning for coffee it was important."

"That's everything, until we find the journals and figure out what he found out, I'm just as stumped as you. If I thought this was dangerous I would have given you a heads up Gibbs. I know better than to play with your kids without your permission."

Abby came through the door at a full head of steam just as Kort finished his last statement, "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs. I got an E-mail from Timmy."

She quickly moved to the computer terminal in the room and pulled up the e-mail on the plasma for all to see.

It was block lettering "the truth will cost" and then there was a picture of a penny head side up.

"The truth will cost a penny?" Tony mumbled "That makes no sense."

AN: Wow two chapters in three days for this one. Hope you enjoy the story so far. Please review with thoughts and comments. Stray:)


	5. Chapter 5

The longer Kort sat in the conference room, the more anxious he was becoming. He knew these people were very good at their jobs and while he had to give them enough information to find the people responsible for the vicious attack on Tim, he also had to be careful not to tell them too much. If he did he might endanger the one person on the face of the earth the meant something to him. He was walking a razor's edge.

"The truth will cost a penny?", Tony muttered to himself again. "What are you trying to tell us McGee?"

"Excuse me?", Kort interjected himself into conversation. "Since the I received the voicemail, I have been very patiently waiting for someone to tell me, what are the Rules?"  
Gibbs just looked at the man, not willing to tell him anything, but realizing without complete honestly by everyone involved they may never find out who attacked McGee.

After a very pregnant pause he explained the Rules that McGee had listed in his message to the man.

"And what about the rest, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to figure it out as we go?"  
Gibbs looked at him and smirked.

Vance decided that it was time for him to take control of the briefing and get it back on track.

"Okay, so who are the women and children we are supposed to protect, what are we wrong about and finally what on earth cost a penny?"  
Kort pulled back out of the conversation when Vance brought up these questions, because even though he had a good idea who the women and children were he wasn't willing to disclose that information if not absolutely necessary.

Tony noticed the shift in body language in the man and was about to call him out on it when the door to the conference room opened once again.

"Director, we have a problem?" Agent Travis, the head of Cyber Security, said as he entered the room.

Vance rubbed his face as he turned to look at the man.

"We have a breach in the secure network. Someone is systematically going through our files and erasing all non-case related activities of Special Agent McGee since December of last year."

"What exactly does that mean?", Gibbs asked because if truth be told he wasn't really paying attention to the man until his agent's name was said.

"Any message, note or email sent to or from Special Agent McGee not directly linked to a case is being erased, completely scrubbed out of existence actually. We can't even tell how many links have been affected because after it is removed, when can't find any proof that the links even exsisted."  
"Well find out, we need to know what's being removed from our data banks." Vance was not happy.

"That's just it, we need to borrow Agent McGee, since he's that one that wrote most of the coding for our cyber security network."

"Agent McGee is unavailable at this time. Just figure out what is going on and keep me in the loop."  
Once the door closed behind the frazzled young man, Fornell was the first one to speak, "It sounds like McGee put that in as a safety protocol if he thought his system had been breached on any level."  
"What makes you say that?" Vance questioned.

"It sounds like the program he uses to cover his tracks anytime you have him hack us." Fornell said in a matter of fact tone.

Kort just nodded in agreement, "Your right, our cyber team is trying to find a way to follow it, since we can't seem to keep him out, my Director just wants to know what you cowboys are looking at when you barge into our system."

Vance maintain a straight face, but just barely, "I have no idea what you gentlemen are talking about. No one at this agency would illegally hack into another agency's computer system."  
The grins from all the NCIS Agents in the room told another story all together.

The humor in the room was short lived, when Vance decided to once again bring them back to task, "Now we have another question to find an answer to, what is McGee trying to hide that goes back to December?"

Gibbs took that moment to take charge, "Kort can you get us a copy of everything you sent McGee since this began?"  
Kort nodded, "He logged into the computer that was in the room and quickly pulled up everything he had discovered since first meeting with McGee in April.

He printed it out and handed it over to Gibbs, "If Tim is deleting information on this system I figured it would be best if we have a hard copy of the information available to us."  
Gibbs handed the list to Tony, "Start with the children, find out if any were in the US during the time frame that McGee was attacked."  
Kort once again stiffened up, this time Vance and Gibbs also noticed his change in body language.

"Anything you want to share?" Vance questioned giving the man a pointed look.

"I guess you should know my name is on that list, September 23, 1961."  
Gibbs closed in on the man, " That moves you to the top of our suspect list."  
Kort just rolled his eyes, an impish grin appeared on his face, "Rule 51, Gibbs."

Gibbs backed off slightly and turned to face the rest of his team, "Ellie figure that out." he said pointing to the email that was still up on the plasma.

"Abby help the computer guys figure out what's being taken out of our system."  
"And what will you be doing, Gibbs?" Vance asked trying to appear that he hadn't lost control of the meeting.

"Kort, Fornell and myself willing be heading out to do an interview near Langley." he said giving the Director a heated glare that clearly past along his intentions of checking in on his fallen agent.

AN: Hope you enjoyed. I must apologize but since I work in retail I don't think I'll be able to update again until after Black Friday. Please review with your thoughts and comments as they will probably be the only thing keeping me sane until the craziness ends next Saturday. :) stray


	6. Chapter 6

Kort, Fornell and Gibbs arrived at the hospital to find a very tired Ducky, sitting in the cafeteria drinking a cup of tea. The elderly Doctor was wearing a set of scrubs and had obviously recently left the surgical theater. They sped up when they saw him, all anxious for information on their friend and colleague.

"Duck?" Gibbs said when they reached his table.

Ducky immediately understood the question that was being asked when the three men approached him.

"He just got out of surgery. He took one hell of a beating Jethro, I haven't seen the likes of that kind of physical abuse since my time with..."

Gibbs saw the older man was remembering the time he served with a Doctor more interested in torture than healing.

"Is he going to make it?" Kort asked trying to sound casual but failing as concern filled his voice.

"Yes, but we've decided to leave him heavily sedated for the next three to four days to allow his body the time it needs to properly heal. I don't expect him to be awake or lucid until we dial back the sedatives once his physical injuries have healed enough to not put undue stress on his heart. It's a delicate balance at the moment giving him enough sedates to prevent him from going into cardiac arrest but not too much as to effect his respiratory system."

"I'm afraid I need you to wake him up now.", Fornell said regret heavy in his voice.

"Are you insane?". Gibbs said as he glared at the man.

Kort simply reached for his sidearm as his eye narrowed in obvious anger, "I think not Agent Fornell."

Ducky rose from his seat and stood between the three men, "I must agree with Agent Kort, Tobias. It is just to dangerous to allow him to awake at the moment."  
Fornell spoke to Gibbs but his eyes never left Kort whose hand stayed dangerously close to the gun at his side, " I'm sorry to inform you of this but we have an agent sending voice mail and emails from death's doorstep. Plus, he's managed to hack into at least one government agency while in surgery. If you're not interested into finding out how he did that, well I know I'm sure the hell am, not to mention he seems to be the only one who knows exactly what's going on at the moment. The sooner we can talk to him the sooner we can find out who's after him and be better prepared to prevent another attack."

Gibbs was getting ready to respond when Kort exploded shocking everyone present. "I don't care what you want to find out or how he's doing whatever it is he's doing. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FORCE THE DOCTORS TO BRING HIM OUT OF SEDATION. You are a trained investigator, investigate. I will not allow anyone to further endanger my... friend."

He whispered the last word like it was difficult for him to say.

"Agent Kort, I was not going to even consider Tobias' request, you did not need to allow yourself to become so worked up." Ducky responded calmly, turning to Agent Fornell, "You can speak to him when we determine that it is medically safe to wake him, but not one second sooner."

Gibbs was staring at the CIA Agent something was different in the man, he was not the cold as steel, ready to sacrifice anyone and everyone to achieve his goals Agent that Gibbs had dealt with in the past. This Kort appeared to be almost human. Gibbs silently vowed to watch the man and see what had caused the change. He didn't like the unexpected and Kort's current behavior was definitely unexpected.

While Kort and Fornell continued the stubborn glaring match, Gibbs asked the question that they all really wanted the answer, "Can we see him?"

Ducky stared hard at the three men and made sure they understood the condition of the visit, "Only if you each promise to control your emotions in the room and any attempt to wake will result in me banning all of you from seeing him again until we decide to lower the sedation."  
Each of the men nodded their agreement. Ducky then took one last sip of his tea and led them to Tim's room.

Even after seeing him earlier, none of them were prepared for the shock that awaited them when they entered the room. Tim was hooked up to several machines and the noise of the respirator that steadily supplied him with oxygen seemed unusually loud. There didn't seemed to be an inch of skin that was exposed that didn't either have a needle in it or was black and blue from the horrible beating that he took. Tim's face was swollen and there appeared to be a soft cast on his right arm. Tim looked like hell warmed over. The only welcoming sound in the room was the steady beep of the heart monitor that told them that he was alive.

Kort was the first to regain his composure and walked to the side of the bed. He didn't touch the sleeping man but he did softly whisper by his ear, "Don't worry kid, I'll handle this you just get better."

Gibbs followed and stood on the other side, he once again issued his stern order that Tim was not allowed to die. The two men looked at each other and as one walked away from the injured man.

Fornell just shook his head and followed the others out of the room.

As they were walking out, Ducky grabbed Gibbs arm and motioned to him that he would like a word with him in private, "Jethro, we need to call Penelope. I know for a fact that Tim calls her regularly and she would be quite put out if she was kept in the dark about his condition."

Gibbs nodded a started to walk away only taking a few steps before he froze in his tracks, "Shit, shit, shit." He grabbed his phone and called as he once again started walking with a purpose in his step. "DiNozzo stop whatever it is you are doing and do a deep back ground on Penelope Langston and Admiral Robert McGee focusing on the time he was stationed in England." He didn't wait for a reply before hitting the button to end the call and dialing the next number.

"Director, call Tim's grandmother and have her come to the Navy Yard at once. When she gets there put her into interrogation and let her stew for a while. Do not tell her anything about what happened to Tim."  
The other men just stared at him, "It's not the truth will cost a penny. It's the truth will cost Penny. Ms Langston knows something about what is going on and if my past dealings with her is anything to go by, she will not tell us without a fight."

AN: I SURVIVIED BLACK FRIDAY. Hope you enjoyed the update and as always review with your thoughts and comments. :) stray


	7. Chapter 7

Gibbs walked into the bullpen and held out a hand to Tony for the report he had been working on, "That's everything I could find, I'm still waiting for a couple of reports from the British Embassy, Boss." the Senior Field Agent reported.

Gibbs looked over the information in the file that Tony handed him only slightly annoyed when Kort and Fornell both read over his shoulder.

Kort's eyes narrowed as he read what was in the file, while Fornell's eyes widen in shock over the information he was reading.

Gibbs got up from his desk and walked up the stairs to the Director's office to see if they had gotten in touch with the guest of honor for today's interrogation.

Gibbs didn't bother to knock or announce himself in any way before he started speaking to the Director so he was shocked by the presence of someone else in the office.

"Vance, is our..."  
"Special Agent Gibbs, you remember Royal Marine Major Peter Mallory.", Vance interrupted with the pointed introduction.

Gibbs stuck out his hand glaring at the British National, "I seem to remember that to be MI6 Agent Mallory." Gibbs said barely civil.

The man in question simply smiled, "That information is need to know and there are several people here right now that don't need to know that, Gunnery Sergeant."

"What do you need, Mallory? I'm kind of busy right now."  
Vance took this moment to inject himself into the conversation, "Major Mallory was sent to find out why our people have been looking into events that occurred forty years ago on British soil."

Gibbs glanced at Vance and realized the man didn't trust the MI6 Agent any more than he did, so he became very dense on the subject very quick, "I'm not sure what you are talking about?"  
"It seems your Agent McGee was looking into historical records of events in England over the last few months. We assumed that he was doing so at your behest, so we thought it might be prudent to come here and give whatever aid you might need."

"We?" Gibbs gave the man a death glare, "Are you hiding someone in your pocket?"  
The other man was suddenly uneasy in the present situation, "No, I just..."  
"Agent McGee, is also a rather well known author and I'm sure anything he was looking up was simply research for his next novel.", Vance once again took control of the conversation.

"Well if I could just speak to him we could get this whole situation resolved and I'll be out of your hair.", Mallory said trying to regain his composure.

"Agent McGee is currently unavailable, but I'll be sure to let him know of your interest in his current Gemcity project." Vance dismissed the man and called from someone to escort him out of the building.

Once the man was safely out of the office Vance turned to Gibbs "Get Kort and Fornell up here, this just got a lot more disturbing."  
Once the four men were secure in the knowledge that they were alone in the office, Vance brought everyone up to speed on the discussion they had just had with the MI6 Agent.

Kort became very uneasy with the revelation that MI6 was know aware of what was going on with the young Agent in question. "I've heard of Mallory on a professional level. He is not your normal Agent, he is a problem solver."

"Would the information you retrieved for McGee get the notice of a MI6 problem solver, Kort?" Vance asked trying to remain diplomatic.

"No, as I told you before, everything I got for him could be found by anyone with enough time and patience to go through all the old newspaper stories. The only thing that required any kind of pressure was the list of births, and even that could have been assembled without any government oversight by someone with enough time."

"So who did you apply pressure to, to get the list of births?", Fornell asked picking up on the fact that the CIA Agent admitted to using someone to get the information for him.

Before Kort could answer, Vance's secretary came over the speaker on his desk, "Director, Ms Langston as arrived and was escorted to interrogation."  
"Thank you." Vance responded and turned to the other men in the room. "Are you ready for this?"

They all nodded and only Vance noticed the way that Kort's nostrils flared in anger at the mention of Penelope Langston.

"Kort, is there anything else you need to tell us before we interview Ms. Langston?" Vance asked still not fully trusting the other man.

"I'll let you know. It all depends on her.", he answered without truly answering.

Gibbs walked into interrogation room one silently, instead of his normal door banging entrance.

"Ms. Langston." he acknowledged the woman without offering any explanation to why she was brought to the Navy Yard.

"Surely you haven't forgotten, Agent Gibbs, it's Penny." She responded, the cold tone of her voice covering the politeness of her words. "Do you mind telling me why I was summoned here and where is Timothy?"

"All in due time, Ms. Langston.", Gibbs deliberately kept the formal tone. "We are interested in the activities of your husband during the time he was stationed in England, and we hoped you could give us some insight into his activities at the time."

"He was stationed there for several years and that was a very long time ago, I'm not sure how much help I could be?"

"How about we narrow down the time frame?" Gibbs said casually looking down at the notes DiNozzo had put together during his back ground check into Tim's grandparents. "How about between January 1960 and when he returned stateside in August of 1961?"

"As I'm sure you will find in the detailed notes you are looking at, I was not in England at that time. I returned stateside in November of 1959 and didn't return to England before my husband was reassigned."

"Yes, I see that now. It's at the same time that you dropped McGee from your name and returned to using your maiden name of Langston. Why was that?"

"It was a time of change and as an educated woman I was in the middle of that change. My work was not pro-military and my husband was an up and coming officer in the Navy, for the benefit of both of careers that it was the best option."

The hostility in the room had steadily been rising since Gibbs had entered and now it was at a fevered pitch. It was at this moment that Kort decided to drop his bombshell. He walked into the room.

"I see you gave us the carefully orchestrated cover story, now would you care to tell us the truth?"

Penny's eyes flared in anger as she turn to look at the intruder who had entered the room and dare to question her integrity but as soon as she laid eyes on the man all color drained for her face and her mouth opened and closed a few times with no words coming out. Finally she softly whispered.

"No this cannot be, we were told you were dead."

AN: So how does Penny know Kort? Please review with your thoughts and comments stray :)


	8. Chapter 8

Penny couldn't turned her eyes away from the perfect mixture of Robert McGee and the woman who had stolen his heart away from her, even in her mind she refused to give that woman a name.

But how was this possible, Robert's young son had perished in a car accident not long after his birth.

Flashback

Penny heard the soft knocking at her front door after another sleepless night, pulling on her robe she walked to the door mentally make a list for the things she had planned for the day ahead. All those plans came to an abrupt halt when she saw the figure standing outside her door.

"Robert, I thought you wouldn't be stateside for another two weeks?" Penny said tying her robe just a little tighter around her waist.

"Penny.", her name came out somewhat between a gasp and a sigh.

"What's wrong? What happened?", even though the man in front of her had broken her heart into a million pieces, for some unknown reason she was still desperately in love with him and would do anything to ease his pain.

"They're dead, Penny. They are both dead." the man sobbed leaning heavily on the frame of the door.

Penny pulled her husband into the house and put on a pot of coffee, while the coffee brewed she picked up the phone and called the divorce lawyer to cancel the meeting they had for today. She would reschedule once she had dealt with this crisis.

Robert and Penny had talked through the day and long into the night. Several decisions where made the would not only affect them but their son and even their future grandchildren though neither of them were aware of the implications of the choices they made that night.

The next morning Penny visited the British Embassy in Washington and Robert reported for duty at Norfolk, agreements made that would follow them the rest of their lives.

End Flashback

Penny had never regretted the decisions she had made that night until the moment Trent Kort walked into the interrogation room.

At that moment everything she had fought so hard to protect and keep secret shattered. She realized that she wasn't a brave woman that had used her mind to control her life and that of her loved ones, but instead she had been a pawn in a game that someone else was playing.

With that realization she turned frantically to Gibbs, " Oh my God, you have to protect Tim and Sara."

"Ms Langston, I think you need to tell us everything you know about Mr. Kort and how does this affect your grandchildren."

Penny fought hard to reign in her emotions and look deep into the eyes of the other people in the room. When she figured out that they didn't know half of what she originally thought they did, it occurred to her that she might still have the upper hand and could keep her end of the bargain she made all those years ago, but first she had to get her grandchildren out of the line of fire.

"I want a lawyer present and Timothy and Sara brought to me before I say anything else."

She sat back in the uncomfortable chair and gave both men a hard stare, knowing that she may have just bought enough time to figure out what they knew, and to decide a course of action that would continue to protect her family and her husband's legacy.

Vance had been observing the interrogation in the next room and figured that now was a good time to make his presence know, "Ms. Langston, I if you give me the contact information for your attorney, I will be more that happy to contact him, however until I am one hundred percent sure that whatever it is you are hiding is a danger to your grandchildren I cannot authorize the use of government funds on unnecessary protection details."

Penny turned to the man who had just entered the room, "Excuse me? Who exactly are you?"

"Leon Vance, Director of NCIS."

At that Penny turned the full force of her overbearing nature onto the man, "Well I would hope as the Director of this Agency that you would put the well-being of the people working for you into consideration. As a dependent of a retired Navy Admiral, I have just informed you of a threat to one of your agents and his family and you are more concerned with the cost of providing the need protection needed, than his well-being."

"Ms Langston, I am well aware of who you are and who your husband, son and grandson are in regards to this Agency. That does not give you the power to decide who and what I do with the Agents under my command. I will provide protection to every Agent under my watch, however you are not an Agent and currently I do not believe your motives are in line with the well-being of the military branches this Agency is sworn to protect. If you have something you wish to say that might change my opinion fill free to do so but until then the only thing I can offer you is the advice of the attorney you have requested."

Penny crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the three men in the room. The only time the steel in her eyes seemed to soften was when she glanced at Kort but that was only briefly.

AN: What's Penny's game? Hope you enjoyed and as always please review with your thought and comments. :) stray


	9. Chapter 9

The three men walked out of the interrogation room, Vance on the phone getting the attorney that Penny had requested and Gibbs and Kort glaring holes into each other.

"Before you two try to kill each other," Vance began, "She is correct we have no reason to not allow her access to her grandchildren. Sara isn't an issue but what do we tell her about Agent McGee?"  
Kort looked at the Director with slight contempt in his eyes, "Tell the old bat that he doesn't want to see her.", he growled.

The two men with him in the hallway step back at the intensity and hatred in his voice.

Instead of commenting on what the CIA Agent had just said Gibbs stepped closer to the man, "We need to talk." the tone in his voice left no room for argument.

Vance called after the two men storming down the hallway, "Conference Room Two is open and secure."  
The two men walked into the room designated as secure by the Director locking the door behind them and just continued their glaring match for a few minutes before Gibbs broke the silence.

"Are you Tim's uncle?"  
"I am a deep cover CIA Agent that was hired to do my job because I have no family. Any family that I might have discovered would be in danger from multiple sources."  
"I didn't ask for a job description, ARE YOU TIM'S UNCLE?"

Kort didn't answer at first and the other man was surprised by the accusation that came out when he finally did answer.

"Why didn't you protect him?" the anguish in his voice answering the Marine's question, "I handed picked you for him, because of your reputation of treating your team like family."  
"Like hell I didn't protect him, Tim is part of my team, they are my family."  
"Right." The sarcasm dripped of the single word the spy spoke. "You took on Senior for DiNozzo. Hell, you even went toe to toe with the Director of the Mossad for David. But when you met the Admiral you just stood back and allowed him and Ms Langston to continue with the life long bullying. She even convinced him to call and apologize. Would you ever allowed DiNozzo or David to apologize to the men who raised them? I don't think so, but you had no problem with Tim being forced to say he was wrong for being himself, for having his own dreams. Thank God, he didn't cave in to the Admiral after that phone call. But would you have cared?"

"The Admiral had cancer, I didn't want Tim to regret not trying to find peace with the man before he passed away. And what do you mean, you hand picked me for Tim? I made the decision to put Tim on my team, no one picked him for me."  
"So you think that it was just chance that a rookie case agent was sent to the location of a murdered sailor, or that his call to NCIS headquarters went straight to DiNozzo's phone instead of the call center?

Oh and I guess that background report on Tim that was on your desk the day you finished on the sub appeared by magic?"

Gibbs couldn't hide his confusion at the confession the other man just made, "Why?"

"I had made sure that the right recommendations had been made and got to the right people on Tim's behalf for years. Making sure he got advanced in school and got acknowledged by the right people at several colleges so Tim would have a choice in higher education. The fact that he decided to join NCIS early on made me more comfortable because I would have less chance of influence at the larger agencies than I would here. Not that what I did was easy on any level. I had to use what leverage I could muster to help him without anyone ever connecting the two of us. When Tim finally finished his training and was assigned to Norfolk I began looking at team leaders for him because I knew his true goal was to be a field agent. Then the La Grenouille investigation was assigned to me and I knew I had to get him assigned to a strong team leader quickly to prevent his father from bull dozing everything he had worked so hard to achieve."  
"You choose me?" Gibbs asked almost in shock.

"Yes, you were supposed to protect him from the Admiral and be the father that he should of always had, someone to be proud of him."

"I have always be proud of him." Gibbs whispered more to himself than to the other man.

"Not from where I stood." Kort practically growled in his face.

Finally everything Kort had just admitted registered with Gibbs, "Wait you helped get him advance in school, he skipped the fourth grade. How long have you known?"

" I left England just after my seventeenth birthday in September of '78. It took me a couple of months to confirm all the rumors about my father I had gathered over the years. My father was stationed in Greece at the time, but my brother was on leave in California awaiting the birth of his first child. I arrived at the base hospital in Alameda the day Tim was born. Every ounce of revenge I wanted against the McGee family faded the minute a first saw that little boy in the nursery. All I wanted from the moment on was to make sure he never felt as abandoned and alone as I did growing up."

"Why didn't you just make yourself known to the family that day and be part of his life instead of hiding in the shadows?"

Kort seemed to shake himself from the shadow that was sitting over him as the memories of his past overwhelmed him. Gibbs knew at that moment that he had gotten everything the man was going to share at the moment.

"Kort you choose me for a reason. Some gut instinct lead you to me to watch over Tim. Trust that instinct now. I will not let you or him down."

"It's too late, Gibbs. The secret is out now, someone knows and the danger that my job has brought to Tim is only beginning. You need to prepare yourself now. I can never allow him to be unghosted. For his protection he must walk away from the life he built here and from me."

Gibbs walked into the other man's personal space, "I protect my own. Tim will be unghosted and you will help us in keeping him safe."  
Kort just laughed unbelieving the words that came out of the other man's mouth, "So the mighty Gibbs has spoken. Just remember he might be like family to you but he IS my family. I won't allow you to take any risks with his safety."  
The two men looked hard at each other for several minutes before coming to an uneasy truce. No words were spoken they just nodded to each other.

AN: So part of Kort's story finally comes out, is it believable? Review with your thoughts and comments. Stray:)


	10. Chapter 10

Gibbs and Kort left the conference room both lost in thought about the conversation they had just had.

'Have I really treated him so poorly, I mean his father was sick and dying and from what I found out about him during our investigation I knew he would never make the first move. I did what needed to be done to try to mend the relationship in the time they had left. But was that best for McGee? Now I'm not so sure. I never even followed up with McGee or the Admiral, I wonder what they talked about? They seemed to have come to some kind of truce by the end. But was I right?'

The thoughts in Gibbs' head went round and round as he tried to justify his actions in regards to the Admiral and McGee against the information he had just found out from Kort.

' Would I have acted the same with Senior or Director David if the situations had been the same?'

That was the question that bothered the former Marine the most because in the dark recesses of his mind he knew the answer to that particular question and he didn't like it because if he admitted the truth, even to himself, he would have to acknowledge that yes he had treated McGee unfairly.

Kort was also deep in thought but his mind was acting like it would if he was deep undercover and had unintentionally disclosed the identity of another agent.

Gibbs had proven time and again that he DID NOT have Tim's best interest at heart.

With the information now in Gibbs' possession he could cause harm to Tim and Kort.

Kort was honor bound by both his job and his relationship with Tim to protect the younger man.

Kort began looking for an isolated place in the building that would allow him to make a few phone calls that would begin the process of making Tim vanish from the NCIS radar until the time came that he could be sure that no harm would come to the younger man because of what he had just admitted to Gibbs.

Both men were brought out of their thought by Vance.

"Gibbs...Kort in my office now!"

They acknowledged the order and began to hastily walked to the Director's office wondering what else could go wrong.

As soon as they entered the office Vance locked the door behind them and turned to the cell phone sitting in the middle of his desk.

"Ducky you are on speaker with Gibbs, Kort and myself."

"Hello, gentlemen. I have just received some unsettling news from a colleague of mine that works at Bethesda. It seems that someone is calling local medical facilities looking for information about our mutual friend. We may need to consider moving him to a more secure location before they decide to do site by site inspections for him."

"Is it safe to move him in his current condition?" Kort asked

"I wouldn't normally recommend it but I shutter to think what might happen to him if the people who did this find him again."

"Find out if your colleague has any more information on the identity of the caller and try to get the number they were calling from." Gibbs was hoping that the call would lead to the identity of McGee's attackers.

"I will also set up a trace a your current location encase they call." Vance had a similar mindset with Gibbs and was hoping they could put this case to rest quickly and concentrate on his agent's recovery instead of worrying about his safety.

"I am heading to the hospital to protect him until we can make a decision on his continued care." Kort said, thinking only of Tim's safety and not the case.

" Kort according to the message Tim left us you are also a target. We can't risk the two of you in one location." Vance was trying to be diplomatic about the other agent's protection.

"My safety?" Kort asked disbelief heavy in his voice. " I don't matter. All that matters is keeping Tim safe. Penelope Langston made choices years before Tim was even born that led us here. I made choices on the day he was born that led to this situation. I will not allow him to suffer any more than he has because of the choices we made that shaped his life. I WILL NOT allow anyone else to harm him simply for being the grandson of Admiral Robert McGee." Kort's normal devil may care attitude had vanish amid his rant at the two men in the room and the doctor on the phone.

Each man hearing him realized how deep his need to protect the younger man ran and only one knew the reason why.

Vance looked to Gibbs and immediately knew that he was aware of what the CIA agent was alluding to the entire time he was venting at the men in the room.

"Gibbs?", Vance wanted an explanation and he wasn't willing to wait.

"It's complicated Director and it's not my story to tell."

Vance turned to the other man in the room and put on his best Director's glare, "Kort, if you want to get anywhere near my agent I expect you to tell me exactly what is going on and I want to know right now."

Kort took a deep breathe, ' In for a penny, in for a pound.' he thought to himself. Then he looked at the Director of NCIS and began to tell the man his story.

AN:Next chapter will focus on Kort's life growing up and how he found out that Robert McGee was his father. Did anyone pick up on the identity of the MI6 Agent in chapter8? Hope you enjoyed the story and as always review with your thoughts and comments. Stray:)


	11. Chapter 11

"Do you know what happened to all the children that were orphaned by the IRA's bombings during the 60's and 70's in England?", Trent began softly looking at a spot on the wall behind the Director and not at either of the men in the room.

"They were sent to orphanages in the interior of the country, away from the bombings and attacks, away from the 'hot zones' where they were supposed to heal and forget the horrors they had witnessed."

"It was at one of these orphanages that my story begins, born on September 23rd to an American Navy Officer and a mother that had just a slight tint of blue in her blood. I never met either one of my parents."

Kort stopped and looked both men in the eyes and they clearly saw the pain and resentment in the Englishman as he spoke of his parentage.

"It was a quiet life during my early years, no one knew or seemed to care who my parents were I was just another child living in one of the more respectable orphanages which meant I was wealthy. The official story that I was told was that my parents perished in an automobile accident not long after my birth and their estate had been liquidated and place in a trust fund for my care."

Kort paused again, looking at Gibbs, " You have one thing right in your rules... There is no third best."

The look on his face was half smirk and half grimace.

" It wasn't long after my sixth birthday that I first heard the name McGee. The orphanage had taken us on a field trip to the local Navy Yard to tour a battleship and allow us to learn a little history first hand. It had been a pleasant day and we were all tired when an old sailor came stumbling out of the local pub. I'll never forget the look of hatred on his face when he walked right up to me and harshly grabbed my face to get a good look through the haze of alcohol. ' Your McGee's bastard ain't you? Always suspected that Irish son of a bitch left more behind than they claimed.'"

"Gossip spreads quickly in a small town. Hand to hand combat became a means of survival after that fateful day and many of the grown ups turned a blind eye when the little Irish bastard would show up with a new black eye or bruise somewhere, but heaven up me if I was ever caught defending myself. They couldn't have the heathen hurt a proper British subject."

''No one ever seemed to hear that my father was an American, they only seemed seemed to hear the Irish when it was whispered that my father was an Irish American Navy Officer."

" By the time I entered secondary and boarding school, I was accomplished enough with my fists that even the older kids would back off and the few that didn't, well I had learned how to give them sufficient discouragement without leaving any marks. I was left alone to pursue my own agendas which included finding everything I could about the man who fathered me. I followed his career closely and that of my half brother. It always bothered me that John had it all while I was left with nothing. Maybe if I had been the first born he would have accepted me. No I was the dirty little secret he had left behind that would have destroyed his perfect life and marriage."

"I hated Robert McGee and everything in his perfect little world the way that only a child can hate. I went to bed each night with Robert McGee and his wife Penelope the villains of every fairy tale I ever heard of or read. The only bright light in my dark childhood was the knowledge that I had an older brother out there that would one day come to my rescue and save me from the dark reality where I existed."

Kort stood up and walked to the bureau behind the Director's desk and poured himself a healthy dose of Scotch from the decanter. He swirled the drink around a few times in the glass before he downed it in one gulp.

" At twelve I had my first encounter with MI6. I was called to the head master's office and brought in front of a gentleman who accidentally forgot to introduced himself. There it was clearly explained to me what dual citizenship was and no doubt was left in my mind that my stay in England would be no longer welcomed once I reached adulthood."

"For five years I continued to follow the career of my biological father and I silently celebrated when my step brother graduated from Annapolis, still thinking him to be the hero of my story. The month after my seventeenth birthday I gained full control of my trust fund and left England never planning on looking back. I went in search of my brother fully believing that he would accept me with open arms. Once again I must remind you that I was a child with a child's belief in happy endings. I was still at the hospital when the CIA recruiter located me purchasing a stuffed animal for the little boy who was my nephew. That was the last day that I ever believed in happy endings or white hats."

"He had on him several carefully worded contracts between the US Navy, the British MI6 and Robert and Penelope McGee."

AN: I am so sorry I didn't realize that it had been almost a year since my last update. Life has been kind of crazy on this end but I think I might have everything under control. Hopefully. I plan on starting to write more often and pick up where I left off on all my stories. My humblest apologies. Stray :)


	12. Chapter 12

Vance took a deep breath and asked the question that was lingering in the room. "What was in those contracts?"

Kort again gave them the half smirk half grimace that he had earlier, "Basically, Penelope and Robert agreed to disavow any knowledge of my existence and to deny the affair. Robert agreed to never again return to England. In exchange the MI6 would alter official documents that would connect my biological parents as would the Navy. The Navy also promised that Robert and any legitimate male heir would be guaranteed a career in the Navy, which would include continual rise in rank and no tours into any area of conflict."  
Gibbs turned to the two other men slightly shocked, "Did John know about the agreement?"

"Probably, but I have no independent verification of that fact."

"What did you agree to that day?" Vance asked acknowledging that Kort had to make some concessions that day to feel the way he did about happy endings and white hats.

"I agreed to never openly acknowledge my biological family. I also agreed to work deep cover for the CIA, in exchange they would allow me to aid my nephew in any way possible as long as it was never connected directly to me."

Kort turned to Gibbs at this point, "That's why I always made sure to avoid him whenever I had to deal with your team. Your 'gut ' would have picked up on any unusual behavior toward him and I couldn't risk being that close to him and not showing an interest in his life. He is the reason I breath some days. He is the only decent person to ever fall out of my family tree."

"You once asked me if I cared about anything, and my answer was money. I lied money never held any interest for me since I've always had more than enough thanks to the trust fund the British government and the US Navy set me up with to guarantee the secrecy of my birth. I do care about that young man, he is the only thing I care about. I will not allow you to endanger him any longer. He belongs to me."

Gibbs got right into the man's face when he questioned Gibbs' ability to care for the young agent. "Well maybe he wouldn't be where he is right now if you had come to me the minute he seemed to be sniffing around those journals. You knew it would bring trouble and all you did was sit back and watch the show. You allowed a hit squad of international proportions to come down on his head with little or no warning."

Gibbs was toe to toe with the CIA agent when he growled, "If he doesn't make a full recovery I am holding you personally responsible."

Kort wasn't about to back down from the former Marine, " The dog, Mexico, Mahler and Afghanistan. Not to mention your behavior with the Admiral. You have no business to question my relationship with Tim."

Vance was getting frustrated with the show testosterone in the room, "Enough, we've all made mistakes where that young man is concerned. Now is not the time to assign blame. Now is the time to work together and find out exactly who ordered the hit on McGee and stop them. And Kort, McGee was right if they went after him, they will go after you next. They are willing to eliminate all evidence of the affair and anyone who knows of it's existence. You definitely qualify and evidence."

Gibbs and Kort turned to the Director swallowing the anger at least temporarily.

"Now we know that Mallory was sent in to be the official representative for the operation, any idea who might be working behind the scene of this?" Vance continue expecting the two men to calm and work the case.

When both men shook their heads, Vance then had a starting point, "Well Ms Langston may, I will go talk to her without the two of you. Gibbs get DiNozzo looking into any British intelligence officers entering the US."

"What about the threat to Tim?" Kort asked, the other two beginning to noticing his dislike of calling the young agent by his last name.

At that point there was a knock on the door and Vance rose to open it revealing Agent Fornell.

Once he was in the room and the door was once again closed and locked, Vance returned to his chair, "Have all the arrangements been made?" He said looking up to the FBI agent.

"Yes, four save houses or being set up for holding someone needing medical attention, and all the right people have taken notice."

"So what do you have planned, we just set him up and hope they don't just hit them all." Kort asked no happy with the way this seemed to be playing out.

"Nope." Vance said with a devilish grin. He then pulled out a cell phone from his desk and called the number to the phone he gave Ducky earlier.

"Is everything ready on your end Dr. Mallard?", he asked putting the phone on speaker.

"Yes Director. The package is ready to be shipped and we should be back at the Navy Yard in time for tea."

Vance hung up the phone and looked up at Gibbs, "You might want to start explaining things to your team. I don't imagine DiNozzo is going to be too happy."

AN: I hoped this answers a few more of your questions. Please review with your thoughts and comments. :) stray


	13. Chapter 13

"What's the plan for getting him here?", Kort asked clearly not trusting NCIS when it came to the well-being of his nephew.

"Balboa's team is going to be getting a call out as soon as we are finished here, to the Northern portion of Rock Creek Park."

While he said this Vance pulled up a map of the area on his computer, and highlighted the area he was referring to showing that the area ran parallel to a road right by the hospital that McGee was a patient.

"Once Palmer arrives with the ME van, Balboa's team along with Dr. Mallard will take the body back to the Navy Yard as protocol demands." Vance continued with the operation briefing to the two hot headed agents.

"What if someone notices that one medical examiner arrived but two left?", Kort asked clearly wanting all possibilities covered.

"Dr. Mallard will be dressed as a second victim. Once he is in the van he will be free to care for Agent McGee without anyone being the wiser."

"Why Balboa's team? Why not mine?" Gibbs asked begrudgingly, wanting his team to care for his injured man.

"One: Do you think you could keep DiNozzo under control when he sees that the bodies you are collecting are his best friend and the medical examiner that he sees as a beloved uncle? Two: Your team is under constant surveillance at this time." Vance responded calmly, nodding to Fornell to explain.

"We're what?", Gibbs growled.

"Since you very rudely expelled Agent Mallory from the building earlier your team as been under surveillance, all of your homes are bugged for visual and audio."

"Well that is the best reason I can think of not to tell his team that Tim is alive, one of them is sure to blow his whereabouts by accident. Probably in Gibbs' basement if I know them half as well as I believe. Every Agency in the alphabet soup knows that Gibbs' home is the go to safe house for the MCRT. It makes since that foreign intelligence would eventually figure it out too." Kort said deliberately trying to antagonize the man.

"I take care of my own." Gibbs was just about at the end of his rope with the Brit.

"Sure, that is why Tim is a perfect picture of health right now." Kort said no longer even pretending to play nice anymore.

Fornell and Vance jumped in between the two men just as blows were about to fly.

"Enough!" Vance ordered glaring at both men. "This pissing match ends right now or I will take your team out the loop Gibbs and I'll throw you into a cell in protective custody right now Kort. Either the two of you put aside your differences here and now or I will take over."

Both men seemed ready to argue with the Director, "Do not push me. I'd be well within my rights to remove you both from this case if you can't behave professionally. Now do I need to force you to shake hands and make up like I do with my teenagers or are we going to be adults?"

The staring match between the three men would have been historic and talk about for years if it wasn't done in the privacy of the Director's office, finally Kort gave a slight nod and whispered the word . "Fine."

Gibbs turned his death glare to the Director, "For now." he gritted out between clinched teeth.

The Director maintain his glare at the two men for a few more seconds, before he nodded to the both of them but he didn't say a word.

"Gibbs you need to have a team meeting, I'd recommend Ms Scuito's lab, but be careful. I've had a cleaning crew check out the building and so far we don't have an infestation, but I can't guarantee who long that will remain. We have to solve this before they set their sights on this building."

Gibbs moved to the door to get his team together and Kort followed much to the other two men's surprise.

"What, you don't think I'm going to miss the show?", he said grinning to Vance and Fornell.

The two men hurried to leave the room and not be left behind.

Fornell grumbled on the way on, "Hell, I don't have enough time to pop any popcorn."

At that moment Vance discovered what Gibbs meant when he tried to explain the uncontrollable urge to head slap someone, as his hand raised on it's own volition before he fought to bring it back down to his side.

AN: Fornell doesn't have the time to pop any popcorn but you do, the big reveal will happen next, how do you think Tony's going to handle being lied to any finding out that Kort is Tim's uncle. Hint lots of discussion about Tony's car and his bullying of Tim. Please review with your thoughts and comments. Stray:)


End file.
